Suspected Maoists Vandalise Nitta Gelatin Office at Kochi

In a suspected maoist attack, the corporate office of Nitta Gelatin India Limited (NGIL) is vandalised by a group of people on Monday in Kochi, said a company official.

Brandishing iron rods, nine persons, some of them wearing masks, came into the office. When the security guard resisted, he was threatened to keep quiet. They damaged nine computers and window panes.

Managing Director of Nitta Gelatin company, Sajiv K Menon, told IANS that from what they have been told is this was an attack by a nine-member gang suspected to be Maoists activists.

"We do not know anything about the attackers and have no idea if the Maoists were behind it. They left a two-page letter in which Maoists have been mentioned. Do not know if it’s red herring to divert attention," said Menon.

"Everything was over in three minutes and they left soon after vandalising our office. A few of our staff members were also there. The top police officials did come in, saw everything and left," said Menon.

NGIL is one of the first Indo-Japanese joint ventures in India, incorporated in 1975 and is a major manufacturer of gelatin, ossein, di-calcium phosphate, collagen peptide and related products which have wide applications in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and similar industries.

The firm employs close to 500 people at its factory in Koratty, near the Cochin international airport. The company has been facing trouble from the local people after it was found to be polluting the water bodies.

"For about eight months now, there has been no major problem in our factory on account of the earlier trouble. We are waiting for the police to come out with their report," added Menon.

Inspector General of Police M.R. Ajithkumar, who visited the vandalised office, said that a joint team of the local police and the intelligence wing has been set up to probe the incident.

The entire attack has been captured by the CCTV camera installed at the NGIL office and police are also looking into the nearby CCTV camera installed at a bank ATM located near the corporate office to gather some clues.